ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive opened exactly three years ago today during one of the most news-packed months in the history of the Florida Gators.

October 2009 featured widespread panic about Tim Tebow’s concussion and preparedness for LSU, the debut of the lacrosse program, the arrest of Erin Andrews’s stalker, concern about the commitment status of Matt Elam and devastating season-ending injuries to a pair of Florida football players.

After 36 months of long hours, stressful days and plenty of late nights, it is my pleasure to say that OGGOA remains alive and kicking entering its fourth year.

As I stated last year, I truly never thought that a phrase I jotted down on a piece of paper a few summers ago would not only materialize into this website but become something that has encompassed my life in so many ways.

OGGOA was always meant to be a website even when it started simply as a Twitter account that quickly gained a strong following and provided this publication with an unexpected but certainly appreciated built-in audience of Gators news-craving readers.

Now three years later I’m proud to say that OnlyGators.com has amassed more than 6.1 million visits since Oct. 1, 2009. This officially marks the 3,502nd post on the website, and the next comment submitted will be the 19,306th since inception. The @OnlyGators Twitter handle has added nearly 5,000 more followers in the last 12 months (18,367 total as of press time) and approximately 52,600 tweets have been sent out with the news, information and opinions that you crave.

Many of you reading this right now have been with us from the very beginning. You may remember the website crashing when we broke the information about the team’s Nike Pro Combat uniforms. (Luckily the servers have been significantly beefed up since then.) Perhaps you were a frequent reader when OGGOA’s very first in-depth interview (with Al Horford) was posted in early 2010. You might be someone that joined us along the way or maybe you’re even a brand new reader who stumbled onto the site a few months ago.

No matter the longevity or frequency of your patronage, please know that I very much appreciate you for clicking on your OGGOA bookmark, tapping the iPhone home screen icon, reading my tweets or even visiting the site through my work with Yahoo! Sports and Rivals. Without you, the reader, this website does not exist. Period.

As always, plenty of love and thanks goes out to OGGOA’s contributors, the more than 30 Gators athletes who have sat down for extensive interviews with me, those in the industry who have supported and endorsed the website, the great folks at Acceleration.net for keeping us up and running, and obviously all of my friends and family who are equally instrumental in keeping the passion going on a daily basis.

Albert Einstein once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Hard work does pay off; this site is a testament.

Adam, this is the best UF site I’ve been apart of from a straight news stand point…it is what sets this site apart from the others that attempt cover UF athletics…they might post a lot and have followers but it’s your obvious love for the Orange and Blue that really sets it apart in addition to the seemingly endless accessibility to past Gator athletes…Others pretend while you supply the real thing and continually do it better than anyone else…

In fact the only gripe I have is the lack of unapologetic, scathing satire and disdain for the rivals…and I can’t even really warrant it as a “gripe” because you do such a
top notch job…
Just a few questions on this historic day:

Question 1: Is there a reason you don’t allow the use of avatars?

Question 2: Do you really look like the Dude?

Question 3: Higher on your hate list – Dawgs or Noles?

Question 4: Were you worried that Jack Youngblood might have caused you severe bodily harm if you asked the wrong question?

Question 5: Which of these women’s sports do you find yourself attending the most: gymnastics, volleyball or tennis?

1) I believe if you create a WordPress.com account and have an avatar there – and sign in with that account here – it will use the avatar. I temporarily at one time tried to include a profile system here but it messed a lot of things up on the website. If I can figure out a way to improve the commenting system, I will.

2) The Big Lebowski is my favorite movie. I actually saw it the first week it came out in the theaters by accident and loved it. No, I don’t look like the Dude.

3) I just write and am unbiased in doing so. I think that both rivalries are relatively equal though Florida-Georgia is something a bit special, in my opinion.

4) Yes, actually. He is a very nice guy though and has a great sense of humor. After we got 15 minutes into the interview it was like talking to anyone else. He has some great stories.

5) I do not attend any women’s sports as I do not live in Gainesville. However, when I was a student at Florida the women’s games I went to the most were soccer and softball. Now it would probably be lacrosse along with those two.

Thanks to everyone for visiting and commenting and saying such nice things. If you ever have any interesting ideas on things you’d like to see on the website or ways in which it can be improved (content, features, design, etc.) feel free to shoot me an e-mail. My address is on the “About” page, which can be accessed at the top bar of the website.

i didn’t know the history of the site untiletonight so thanks for the summary. i bookmarked the site after reading one of your articles. 1 like your format as you don’t just recycle the sports highlights. stay true to what you started.

Good lord, has it really been three years? Time sure seems to fly! I think maybe you mentioned that you planned to open a site on one of the newspaper sports blogs I was following – maybe the Miami Herald, back when… uhh… Goodman was running it – and I’ve been here ever since.

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It is not affiliated in any way with the University of Florida, University Athletic Association or the Florida Gators.